Effects of fibre coating (size) on properties of glass fibre/vinyl ester composites

• Effects of fibre coating (size) on transverse cracking has been investigated. Two glass fibre/vinyl ester model composites were studied, denoted CA and NoCA and based on different size compositions. Various single fibre tests were not able to quantify the interfacial failure of CA as the interface never failed. The CA size consisted of a film former and a methacrylsilane-coupling agent whereas the NoCA size did not contain any coupling agent. The study reveals limitations with single fibre composite tests for fibre/matrix combinations with high interfacial toughness. Cross-ply laminates based on NoCA demonstrated significant inferior transverse cracking toughness as compared with CA laminates. Composites based on commercially sized glass fibre were also investigated and they performed almost as poorly as the NoCA material, demonstrating large potential for improvement in commercial composites. Results further indicate that the remarkable transverse cracking toughness of the CA material stems partly from strong fibre/matrix adhesion but also from high ductility of the matrix region close to the fibre surface.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Materialteknik -- Kompositmaterial och -teknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Materials Engineering -- Composite Science and Engineering (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Polymeric Composite Materials

Polymera konstruktionsmaterial

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)